General	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
General	General Nature of Business Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc., or SWM or the Company, headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia in the United States of America, is a multinational diversified producer of highly engineered solutions and advanced materials for a variety of industries. Historically, through its Engineered Papers, or EP, segment, the Company has primarily served the tobacco industry via the manufacture and sale of paper and reconstituted tobacco products, which remains a key focus. The EP segment is also a manufacturer of lightweight specialty papers used in manufacturing ventilated cigarettes, reconstituted tobacco used in producing blended cigarettes, and banded papers used in the production of lower ignition propensity, or LIP, cigarettes. The Company produces premium specialized papers for other applications and, through our Advanced Materials & Structures, or AMS, segment, is a specialty producer of resin-based plastic netting through an extrusion process, as well as certain meltblown products, machined plastic core tubes, urethane films, and resin-based rolled products for use in other end segments, such as filtration, surface protection, medical and other industrials. The primary products we sell to the tobacco industry include cigarette, plug wrap and base tipping papers, or Cigarette Papers, which are used to wrap various parts of a cigarette, and reconstituted tobacco leaf, or RTL, which is used as a blend with virgin tobacco in cigarettes, reconstituted tobacco wrappers and binders for cigars. We sell these products directly to tobacco companies or their designated converters in the Americas, Europe, Asia and elsewhere. We also sell a diverse mix of products to non-tobacco industries, including low volume, high-value engineered papers and commodity paper grades produced, among other reasons, to maximize our machine utilization. In December 2013, we acquired DelStar, Inc., or DelStar, a manufacturer of plastic netting and other resin-based products mainly focused on the filtration, industrial and medical market segments. The acquisition of DelStar diversified SWM's global presence in advanced materials, particularly in filtration. In December 2014, we acquired in two separate transactions certain assets from Pronamic Industries, Inc. and Smith & Nephew's Advanced Wound Management Division, which complement the DelStar acquisition and which have been incorporated into our AMS segment. As discussed more fully in Note 3. Business Acquisitions, in October 2015, the Company completed the acquisition of Argotec LLC, or Argotec, a manufacturer of urethane films for use in high-performance niche applications such as surface and automotive paint protection, glass lamination, medical woundcare and other industrial uses. This acquisition has been incorporated into the AMS segment. We conduct business in over 90 countries and operate 18 production locations worldwide, with locations in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Luxembourg, Russia, Brazil, China and Poland. We also have a 50% equity interest in two joint ventures in China: China Tobacco Mauduit (Jiangmen) Paper Industry Ltd., or CTM, which produces cigarette and porous plug wrap papers, and China Tobacco Schweitzer (Yunnan) Reconstituted Tobacco Co. Ltd., or CTS, which produces RTL. Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto have been prepared in accordance with the instructions of Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, and do not include all of the information and disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP. However, such information reflects all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair statement of results for the interim periods including the results of a business reclassified as a discontinued operation which is more fully described in Note 4. Discontinued Operations. The results of operations are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and these notes thereto included herein should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, as filed with the SEC on February 26, 2016. Principles of Consolidation The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned, majority-owned and controlled subsidiaries. The Company’s share of the net income of its 50%-owned joint ventures in China is included in the condensed consolidated statements of income as (loss) income from equity affiliates. Intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated. Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses and related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Estimates are used for, but not limited to, inventory valuation, useful lives of tangible and intangible assets, fair values, sales returns, receivables valuation, pension, postretirement and other benefits, restructuring and impairment, taxes and contingencies. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. Recent Accounting Pronouncements In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued ASU 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" (Topic 606). This guidance specifies how and when an entity will recognize revenue arising from contracts with customers and requires entities to disclose information about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. In August 2015, the FASB deferred the effective date for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017 (including interim reporting periods within those periods). Early adoption is permitted to the original effective date of December 15, 2016 (including interim reporting periods within those periods). The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the amendments on the consolidated financial statements. In November 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-16, "Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Determining Whether the Host Contract in a Hybrid Financial Instrument Issued in the Form of a Share is More Akin to Debt or to Equity." The update requires an entity to determine the nature of the host contract by considering all stated and implied substantive terms and features of the hybrid financial instrument, weighing each term and feature on the basis of the relevant facts and circumstances (commonly referred to as the whole-instrument approach). This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods thereafter. Early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2016. Adoption of ASU 2014-16 did not have an impact on our consolidated financial statements. In February 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-02, "Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis." This standard modifies existing consolidation guidance for reporting organizations that are required to evaluate whether they should consolidate certain legal entities. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods thereafter, and requires either a retrospective approach to adoption or a modified retrospective approach, by recording a cumulative-effect adjustment to equity as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. Early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2016. Adoption of ASU 2015-02 did not have an impact on our consolidated financial statements. In May 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-07, "Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosures for Investments in Certain Entities That Calculate Net Asset Value per Share (or Its Equivalent)." Currently, investments valued using the practical expedient are categorized within the fair value hierarchy. There is diversity in how certain investments measured at net asset value with future redemption dates should be categorized within the fair value hierarchy which this update addresses. If an investment has its fair value measured at net asset value per share (or its equivalent) using the practical expedient, it should not be categorized in the fair value hierarchy. Removing these types of investments from the fair value hierarchy chart eliminates the diversity in classification of these investments and ensures that all investments categorized in the fair value hierarchy are classified consistently. Investments that calculate net asset value per share (or its equivalent) without the use of the practical expedient will continue to be included in the fair value hierarchy. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods thereafter. Early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2016. Adoption of ASU 2015-07 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-11, "Inventory (Topic 330): Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory." This update requires entities to measure inventory at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. Subsequent measurement is unchanged for inventory measured using the Last-in, First-out, or LIFO, or the retail inventory method. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods thereafter. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the amendments on the consolidated financial statements. In September 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-16, "Business Combinations (Topic 805): Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments." The provisions in this Update require an entity that acquires a business to recognize adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. The entity is also required to record, in the same period's financial statements, the effect on earnings of changes in depreciation, amortization, or other income effects, if any, as a result of the change to the provisional amounts, calculated as if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods thereafter. The Company adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2016. During the first quarter of 2016, the Company recognized $0.1 million in net adjustments to the goodwill acquired from the October 2015 purchase of Argotec. This adjustment was reflected in the consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2016. No adjustment was made for prior periods. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, "Leases (Topic 842): Amendments to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification." The new standard establishes a right-of-use model that requires a lessee to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than twelve months. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods thereafter. Early adoption is permitted. Companies must apply a modified retrospective transition approach for leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements. The modified retrospective approach would not require any transition accounting for leases that expired before the earliest comparative period presented. Lessees and lessors may not apply a full retrospective transition approach. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the amendments on the consolidated financial statements. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net)." The amendments in this guidance are intended to clarify how an entity should identify the unit of accounting (i.e., the specified good or service) for the principal versus agent evaluation and how it should apply the control principle to certain types of arrangements. The effective date for this ASU is the same as the effective date for ASU 2014-09. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the amendments on the consolidated financial statements. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, "Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting." This standard makes several modifications to existing guidance related to the accounting for forfeitures, employer tax withholding on share-based compensation and the financial statement presentation of excess tax benefits or deficiencies. ASU 2016-09 also clarifies the statement of cash flows presentation for certain components of share-based awards. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods thereafter. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the amendments on the consolidated financial statements.

General

Nature of Business

Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc., or SWM or the Company, headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia in the United States of America, is a multinational diversified producer of highly engineered solutions and advanced materials for a variety of industries. Historically, through its Engineered Papers, or EP, segment, the Company has primarily served the tobacco industry via the manufacture and sale of paper and reconstituted tobacco products, which remains a key focus. The EP segment is also a manufacturer of lightweight specialty papers used in manufacturing ventilated cigarettes, reconstituted tobacco used in producing blended cigarettes, and banded papers used in the production of lower ignition propensity, or LIP, cigarettes. The Company produces premium specialized papers for other applications and, through our Advanced Materials & Structures, or AMS, segment, is a specialty producer of resin-based plastic netting through an extrusion process, as well as certain meltblown products, machined plastic core tubes, urethane films, and resin-based rolled products for use in other end segments, such as filtration, surface protection, medical and other industrials.

The primary products we sell to the tobacco industry include cigarette, plug wrap and base tipping papers, or Cigarette Papers, which are used to wrap various parts of a cigarette, and reconstituted tobacco leaf, or RTL, which is used as a blend with virgin tobacco in cigarettes, reconstituted tobacco wrappers and binders for cigars. We sell these products directly to tobacco companies or their designated converters in the Americas, Europe, Asia and elsewhere. We also sell a diverse mix of products to non-tobacco industries, including low volume, high-value engineered papers and commodity paper grades produced, among other reasons, to maximize our machine utilization. In December 2013, we acquired DelStar, Inc., or DelStar, a manufacturer of plastic netting and other resin-based products mainly focused on the filtration, industrial and medical market segments. The acquisition of DelStar diversified SWM's global presence in advanced materials, particularly in filtration. In December 2014, we acquired in two separate transactions certain assets from Pronamic Industries, Inc. and Smith & Nephew's Advanced Wound Management Division, which complement the DelStar acquisition and which have been incorporated into our AMS segment. As discussed more fully in Note 3. Business Acquisitions, in October 2015, the Company completed the acquisition of Argotec LLC, or Argotec, a manufacturer of urethane films for use in high-performance niche applications such as surface and automotive paint protection, glass lamination, medical woundcare and other industrial uses. This acquisition has been incorporated into the AMS segment.

We conduct business in over 90 countries and operate 18 production locations worldwide, with locations in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Luxembourg, Russia, Brazil, China and Poland. We also have a 50% equity interest in two joint ventures in China: China Tobacco Mauduit (Jiangmen) Paper Industry Ltd., or CTM, which produces cigarette and porous plug wrap papers, and China Tobacco Schweitzer (Yunnan) Reconstituted Tobacco Co. Ltd., or CTS, which produces RTL.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto have been prepared in accordance with the instructions of Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, and do not include all of the information and disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP. However, such information reflects all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair statement of results for the interim periods including the results of a business reclassified as a discontinued operation which is more fully described in Note 4. Discontinued Operations.

The results of operations are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and these notes thereto included herein should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, as filed with the SEC on February 26, 2016.

Principles of Consolidation

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned, majority-owned and controlled subsidiaries. The Company’s share of the net income of its 50%-owned joint ventures in China is included in the condensed consolidated statements of income as (loss) income from equity affiliates. Intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses and related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Estimates are used for, but not limited to, inventory valuation, useful lives of tangible and intangible assets, fair values, sales returns, receivables valuation, pension, postretirement and other benefits, restructuring and impairment, taxes and contingencies. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued ASU 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" (Topic 606). This guidance specifies how and when an entity will recognize revenue arising from contracts with customers and requires entities to disclose information about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. In August 2015, the FASB deferred the effective date for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017 (including interim reporting periods within those periods). Early adoption is permitted to the original effective date of December 15, 2016 (including interim reporting periods within those periods). The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the amendments on the consolidated financial statements.

In November 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-16, "Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Determining Whether the Host Contract in a Hybrid Financial Instrument Issued in the Form of a Share is More Akin to Debt or to Equity." The update requires an entity to determine the nature of the host contract by considering all stated and implied substantive terms and features of the hybrid financial instrument, weighing each term and feature on the basis of the relevant facts and circumstances (commonly referred to as the whole-instrument approach). This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods thereafter. Early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2016. Adoption of ASU 2014-16 did not have an impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In February 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-02, "Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis." This standard modifies existing consolidation guidance for reporting organizations that are required to evaluate whether they should consolidate certain legal entities. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods thereafter, and requires either a retrospective approach to adoption or a modified retrospective approach, by recording a cumulative-effect adjustment to equity as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption. Early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2016. Adoption of ASU 2015-02 did not have an impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In May 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-07, "Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosures for Investments in Certain Entities That Calculate Net Asset Value per Share (or Its Equivalent)." Currently, investments valued using the practical expedient are categorized within the fair value hierarchy. There is diversity in how certain investments measured at net asset value with future redemption dates should be categorized within the fair value hierarchy which this update addresses. If an investment has its fair value measured at net asset value per share (or its equivalent) using the practical expedient, it should not be categorized in the fair value hierarchy. Removing these types of investments from the fair value hierarchy chart eliminates the diversity in classification of these investments and ensures that all investments categorized in the fair value hierarchy are classified consistently. Investments that calculate net asset value per share (or its equivalent) without the use of the practical expedient will continue to be included in the fair value hierarchy. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods thereafter. Early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2016. Adoption of ASU 2015-07 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-11, "Inventory (Topic 330): Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory." This update requires entities to measure inventory at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. Subsequent measurement is unchanged for inventory measured using the Last-in, First-out, or LIFO, or the retail inventory method. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods thereafter. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the amendments on the consolidated financial statements.

In September 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-16, "Business Combinations (Topic 805): Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments." The provisions in this Update require an entity that acquires a business to recognize adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. The entity is also required to record, in the same period's financial statements, the effect on earnings of changes in depreciation, amortization, or other income effects, if any, as a result of the change to the provisional amounts, calculated as if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods thereafter. The Company adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2016. During the first quarter of 2016, the Company recognized $0.1 million in net adjustments to the goodwill acquired from the October 2015 purchase of Argotec. This adjustment was reflected in the consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2016. No adjustment was made for prior periods.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, "Leases (Topic 842): Amendments to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification." The new standard establishes a right-of-use model that requires a lessee to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than twelve months. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods thereafter. Early adoption is permitted. Companies must apply a modified retrospective transition approach for leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented in the financial statements. The modified retrospective approach would not require any transition accounting for leases that expired before the earliest comparative period presented. Lessees and lessors may not apply a full retrospective transition approach. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the amendments on the consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net)." The amendments in this guidance are intended to clarify how an entity should identify the unit of accounting (i.e., the specified good or service) for the principal versus agent evaluation and how it should apply the control principle to certain types of arrangements. The effective date for this ASU is the same as the effective date for ASU 2014-09. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the amendments on the consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, "Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting." This standard makes several modifications to existing guidance related to the accounting for forfeitures, employer tax withholding on share-based compensation and the financial statement presentation of excess tax benefits or deficiencies. ASU 2016-09 also clarifies the statement of cash flows presentation for certain components of share-based awards. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods thereafter. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the amendments on the consolidated financial statements.